Study the many forms of art

No artistic medium exists in a vacuum — they all influence and draw inspiration from each other. By exploring forms of art outside your main discipline, you’ll become a stronger artist. You can take courses in:

Sculpture

Drawing

Watercolor

Photography

Painting

Ceramics

Printmaking

Digital art

Design

Know your history

Historical perspective is crucial to understanding even modern styles of art. By studying art from prehistoric to contemporary times, you’ll be well prepared to offer insightful analyses and critiques. If art history is your main passion, then you can take additional classes to explore different time periods more in depth.

Create a strong portfolio

Over the course of your studies, you’ll produce a solid body of artwork that will serve as the basis for your professional portfolio, which you’ll assemble in your final year. This portfolio will allow you to present your unique style through pieces connected by theme, technique, subject, or concept — a key selling point for your skills.

Showcase your artwork

As a senior, you’ll collaborate with your classmates to plan, design, implement, and install an exhibit of your collective artwork in an on-campus gallery. This hands-on experience will utilize the multidisciplinary skills you’ve acquired, making sure you’re fully prepared to enter the professional art world.

Popular Minor Pairings

As an artist, my purpose is to show up to the easel and do my work. Whether outcomes are good or not so good, to show up and give all of themselves to the work at hand is the most important thing that my students can learn from me. When I see those that have taken that to heart, I know I have done my job.

Terry Spehar-FaheySenior Lecturer

There’s nothing better than seeing a student who’s never made a drawing ‘get it’ and recognize that they’re a creative person inside. So often our creativity has been suppressed in our youth — brining it out can be life-transforming.

Michael PearceAssociate Professor

Your Future

In addition to being self-employed artists, our art majors also work in movies, television, theater, and animation. Those who’ve chosen the design concentration will typically begin careers in computer graphics, or with advertising agencies or design studios.

The atelier-inspired approach used by Cal Lutheran art professors gives students the opportunity to learn not only through instruction, but also by observing their professors in practice — displaying and modeling the skills, techniques, and conduct of an active artist.